The aftermath…

Fotolia_80726222_XSWell, thank goodness that’s over, ha! Actually I had a pretty great Christmas with the family, and obviously survived. Though it was by the skin of my teeth I’ll admit. Hopefully everyone was able to enjoy some time off, sleep in, and maybe relax a little. I was lucky and got plenty of downtime.

The day prior to leaving for the gathering of the familial sorts I was at work, with a sick salesman. He had a cold, and I thought I’d dodged a bullet with that but really I should have known better. Boxing Day the cold I’d managed to hold off until that moment kicked in full force. Stuffy head, runny nose, hacking, wheezing, the whole nine yards. Yup, fucker got me sick. On the plus side I managed to not give it to anyone in my family so that’s a blessing, and I am on the road to recovery. Thank you modern medicine – I don’t utilize you all that much, but when a killer cold kicks my ass I am ever so grateful you are there. That and the pharmacy guy who, once he finished snickering (yeah, I saw you) helped me narrow down what I needed to kick this thing to the curb.

Didn’t get any writing done as of yet. A head full of cotton is not exactly what I would call helpful to the creative process. The muse doesn’t like my coughing or something, who knows. Not that I could have concentrated much, I was more concerned with ensuring the box of Kleenex never ran out. But I still have six days off work that I can hopefully put to good use and get some things, if not 100% done, much closer to completion. I’d be a much happier camper if I had several things off the writing plate and into my publishers hands. So too would my readers I’m thinking, lol!

Today is for unpacking, laundry, and generally getting myself sorted out. If the head-fog clears out a little more I will get some writing in before the next dose of fabulous medication is needed to hold the sniffling, sneezing, hacking, and wheezing at bay. But if not I am not overly concerned. I have a few notes of things jotted down for where various works will be going to so when I do finally get to writing I have a game plan. The muse did surface long enough over the last few days to do that much. Therefore we have a plan of action and attack for the writing.

I think that’s it currently. No big plans for New Years, not that it’s ever really been my thing, so likely it will be writing and watching the various parties across the country as they go down. Well, that’s it for the moment. Hope everyone has a great New Years whatever your plans are. ~ Moira

Time to prepare

preparing for christmas with gift box and ribbons‘Tis the season for chaos, which means it’s time to figure out what I’m doing before I start running around like a chicken without a head. Not a pretty sight. I have my shopping lists – short this year since I bought lots online, but there are still a few things I have to purchase in store. I have done some shopping to date … unfortunately there is more yet to do. *sigh*

On top of that I have to keep my muse, fickle bitch, in line. She’s got me jumping between three stories, one being the next chapter in the Living Victorious series, and two others that are totally different. But I’m staying mum on them for the time being, at least until she gets through her “mood”. If I talk about them too much she’ll lose interest and then start this crap all over again a few months down the road.

In other news, because I’ve had enough talk about that muse of mine, I’ve got my tickets booked to go see the family persons over Christmas. And I have my holiday schedule which means several days of uninterrupted writing before having to head back to the day gig. I’m rather happy about that, my hope is to pump out at least two of these stories and get them submitted by or just after the New Year. Fingers crossed!

Other than that life is good, our weather isn’t too bad considering it’s the middle of December and we’ve only had a couple minor blizzards that really didn’t do much. Which I’m okay with, means no snow to slog through to and from work. And on that note I’d better get to some of that writing I mentioned earlier. Lots to do ~ Moira

Relaxing the day away

Vector winter scene with forest background isolated on white.
Today will be a nice lazy day for the most part. I do have to run out for a few things but otherwise I plan to laze around and do some much needed writing. Gotta get my next Living Victorious book closer to the finished point, and I have a couple other WIP’s that will fill my time when I run into a mental block on LV3. Plenty to do on the writing front that’s for sure.

I have a new release coming out on Tuesday, my Christmas story to be exact – Greatest Gift. The cover is fabulous (though I’m still waiting on the unwatermarked version), and the first round of edits was a breeze. My editor seemed very pleased with the story in general, and other than commenting on my comma issue (damn you comma’s!!) there were only a couple little fixes to be done. Haven’t seen a second round yet, but I know things are super busy at EP these days given the sheer number of books coming out this month.

The first batch of Christmas cards went into the mail early -yay me!- and are making their way to the readers and friends who requested one. I can still get some more out in time for Christmas if anyone is interested in a card from little old me. All you need to do to sign up is click the blue Christmas ornament button to the right to be taken to the Google form. There are even gifts to be given if anyone is interested.

Let’s see, what else might there be to share today… Huh, I got nothing. Well, guess that means time to refill my mug and get back down to work. Hope everyone has a lovely day ~ Moira.

Getting back to normal

TheBass-evernightpublishing-JayAheer2015-finalimageThe vacation is nearly over which means it’s sadly time to get things back to normal. To that end some updates on a number of projects. First on the docket is the release of The Bass, Living Victorious 2. It will be coming out this Thursday, November 12th. And check out this amazing cover by the way-too-talented-to-be-real Jay Aheer. It is jaw droppingly gorgeous naturally because she doesn’t seem to do anything else. And, as always, links will be coming for this as soon as I have them on the day (or earlier if I’m lucky).

Got some work done on book 3 of the series while I was on holidays. I actually had to delete a chunk because it just was not working for me. But now it’s back on track and our lead singer is making some progress. More to come on what struggles he, and his leading lady, will face in their story to get to their HEA soon.

November 29th I have a spot on The Romance Reviews Year End Splash. There are contests, prizes on a weekly basis, and loads of games for everyone to get in on as well as the Grand Prize of a Kindle Fire HD7. You do have to be a member of the site to participate, but it is 100% free to join. So if you’re interested at all, get started today over at TRR.

Last thing of note for the moment is that I have a Christmas story in with Evernight Publishing. Greatest Gift was accepted, the contract has been signed, and it is slated for a December release. Apparently a number of us Evernight authors all had the same thought to write Christmas stories roughly at the same time so there will be a LOT of Christmas goodies coming out this year. No release date yet of course, but details will come as I get them.

And I think that is it. I am off to keep working on LV 3 after refilling my new coffee mug, my own keepsake from the Big Easy. Hope everyone has a fabulous day ~ Moira

Almost there…

Bourbon Street Sign in New OrleansOnly ten more days before I’m officially on holidays in the Big Easy with the lovely April Zyon. I am so ready for this break, and it’ll be a blast to boot. I have no clue what I’m packing beyond the obvious, but I am starting a list – cause I’d really hate to be missing something. Especially since I won’t be able to “run home” and grab it, lol!

In other good news The Bass, Living Victorious 2 first round edits hit my inbox this weekend. I haven’t yet had the opportunity to check to see what might need fixing. I’m hoping that it’s all easy *crossing fingers* fixes without too many major boo-boo’s that need major rewrites. That sort of things suck. I also need to get them done before I leave so that my editor has them while I’m away to do her next look over. Maybe they’ll be back in my box when I return, here’s hoping.

First and foremost though is my current project. It sort of popped up suddenly – like most things involving my crazy muse – and it’s a seasonal story. Which means I need to get this sucker done, and fast. I only have a little more to go, I think. It’s always hard to tell with the muse. She keeps bombing me with details to add in so I never quite know where this is heading, and when it might be completed. It better be soon or it’ll miss the appropriate time to release.

Well I think that’s it for updates at this moment. Will put out more as they come to me. Look for a couple more posts to follow in the next two weeks before I depart. ~ Moira

Autumn has arrived

Homemade Dark Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows and Cinnamon

The day has been a roller coaster of weather. Woke to chilly damp autumn, then we managed about an hour of sunny with a few fluffy clouds, and we are currently back into fully overcast with more rain threatening. Fall has arrived in full force here, and gloomy damp chilly days are in the future. I think it may be time to stock up on the hot chocolate (mainly for the excuse to throw some rum in).

But it does provide a rather nice backdrop for writing. In between plotting where my Living Victorious (LV) book 3 will be going I’m working on a Christmas story. It’s been coming in bursts so whenever the mood strikes to get more down I have been. It’s definitely not your “normal” Christmas story by any means. But I’ve never done that whole “normal” thing well. I prefer to color outside the lines, dance with the Devil, and generally thumb my nose at “convention”. It’s a little moody, has it’s moments where emotions run high, and has a bit of off the wall humor too. It won’t be a long book by any means, but I think it will be a fun one for my readers.

In between the plotting, and reading I’ve been cleaning. Mainly when the muse stopped talking or wandered off to look at shiny objects. I have found that the cleaning seems to get her back on track. Thankfully rather quickly today because I didn’t actually want to do any cleaning, lol! I did all the major weekly stuff yesterday, today was mostly things like cleaning the fridge drawers, and shelves. Boring crap that wrenched the creativity back on track. And when that last failed to work I’ve been watching some S.O.A. that I downloaded a while back but never got around to watching.

Now I need to go scrounging for the makings of dinner, do some more writing, and get in some more plotting for LV3. I hope everyone had a great weekend, and has a lovely week. Tomorrow is Monday – make the best of it and do nothing that can be proven. Have a great one! ~ Moira

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Coffee, coffee, more coffee

Isolated icon of coffee cup made from words

It is a chilly, dreary Sunday but a great day for writing. I’m busy working on book 3 of the Living Victorious series and attempting to mainline caffeine as quickly as I can manage. This is Jeremy’s book, and the little shit is driving me insane. Not in a good way most of the time either. He is a stubborn character I will admit, giving me enough to work with for a few paragraphs and then it’s much like pulling teeth to get anything more from him.

Thankfully his leading lady in the book is the chatty sort. She tends to be on the side of “over sharing”. Not so sure that’s a good thing, but it’s an interesting counterbalance to Jeremy. I have this feeling that once they begin to interact on a more continuous basis, outside their brief interactions at meetings currently, that the sparks will really start to fly. Should be fun.

Not much else to share at this moment. I do have a vague idea for a potential Christmas story, but it hasn’t really gelled into much yet. It has a Paranormal flair to it which I’m liking, now if only the muse wouldn’t be quite so stingy with the details maybe I can get it written. LOL! Well, that’s all for the moment. We’ll talk again soon I’m sure. For now I need to refill my mug, and get back to work messing around with Jeremy’s perfectly orderly life. ~ Moira

Another one completed

Living Victorious 2 has officially been submitted to Evernight Publishing for consideration to publish. I’m just happy to have it done. This story has given me more than a couple problems during it’s creation. First a scene that wouldn’t gel, and then the epilogue which I ended up rewriting four times to get it right. But it’s done, and in my publisher’s hands now to look at to see if they want it. What a relief!

I haven’t started book 3 yet, but I do have an idea fermenting in the brain on where it will go. It will feature the lead singer for Victorious, Jeremy Shane. His leading lady is still a mystery to me. I know what her job is, and how she’ll come into the bands life, but she hasn’t told me her name. It could make writing the next book difficult if she doesn’t pipe up soon.

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In other news the Bad Alpha, and the Bad Alpha: Manlove anthologies are releasing on Friday August 21st. I am in the Bad Alpha anthology with nine other marvelous authors. It is currently up for pre-order, with a special price if you one click it before the day of release. To celebrate the releases Evernight Publishing, and the authors are doing a pre-release party on Facebook on Thursday August 20th. All kinds of links are below.

Another wonderful surprise to share with everyone, we were only just told that both Bad Alpha, and Bad Alpha: Manlove will be featured in the August 24th edition of USA Today in the Happily Ever After section. I will post up the link to this once it goes live, and I have it.

Bad Alpha ~ Pre-Order Links
 Amazon (US) | Amazon (CA) | Amazon (UK) | Amazon (AU)

Bad Alpha: Manlove ~ Pre-Order Links
Amazon (US) | Amazon (CA) | Amazon (UK) | Amazon (AU)

Bad Alpha & Bad Alpha: Manlove Pre-Release Party on Facebook
JOIN THE PARTY!

Well I think that is it. I need to be to work on LV3, and figure out my leading ladies name. I hope you all have a lovely night ~ Moira

Where to begin?

TheRhythm-evernightpublishing-JayAheer2015-finalimageIt’s been a while since my last post. To that end oh where to begin with all the news to share? I suppose with the news about the first book in my new series. The Rhythm, Living Victorious will be out on Wednesday August 12, 2015. YAY! I loved writing this book, and my editor on it was amaze-a-balls!

The entire series revolves around the rock band, Victorious. They have done the unheard of and never once had an interview. Of any sort! Not that they completely shut out the media, but they did have an extremely tight leash on things thanks to their manager. In book one of the series we meet the sexy drummer for the band, Lance West. He talks the other four members, and their manager into allowing a journalist into their midst with full, twenty-four access to them all for several months. That lucky journalist is Jennifer Mitchell who Lance has a wee bit of a crush on. Which makes it very interesting for everyone. For a look at the excerpt you can check it out on the page here. As well there are teasers both on my Reader Group Page here, and the new Victorious Facebook page here.

BadAlhaMF-evernightpublishing-jayaheer2015-CompleteThen on August 21, 2015 comes out the next Anthology from Evernight which I’m blessed to be a part of with nine other fabulous authors. Bad Alpha is all paranormal, all Alpha, and well worth a read in my most humble of opinions. (Buy this book!) For a look at my story in the Anthology, Drakon’s Prize, you can check it out on the page here. Drakon is one bad ass Dragon, and I truly hope everyone enjoys my first foray into the paranormal arena. Also for everyone who might wonder, there will be a Manlove version coming out on the same date – Evernight is always thinking about all their readers, and their preferred reading choices.

I am still, yes still, working on book two of the Living Victorious series tentatively titled, The Bass. Which as soon as you read book one you’ll figure out who it’s all about, lol! Or rather you should if you’re following my “logic” with the book titles. If not you can get a wee idea on it from my WIP’s page here. I’m getting closer to being finished, with only a few more things to add in to round it all out along with a bit of a lead in to the third book of the series. If my muse plays nice I should have it done this weekend, or damn close to it. If not for a visit to see the relatives I’d have worked on it this past, long weekend. Sadly when I’m there writing takes a very distant backseat to everything they have planned. I always come back from those visits more exhausted than when I left. They are damn exhausting people! But I do love them. They are so lucky…

Let’s see, what else? Book 1 of Victorious, Bad Alpha release, mentioned book 2 of Victorious… Nope, I think that covers it all. For the moment. On that note I am off to attempt to get some writing done. Have a lovely evening everyone, and look for links to be posted up here, and on my personal Facebook page here too. ~ Moira

A list of projects

Coffee_77856522_XSHappy Saturday everyone, it’s the weekend! Finally. I thought for a while there the week would never end, but thankfully it did. Now I need to knuckle down to work on a few projects of my own instead of the “day job”.

First up are the second round of edits on The Rhythm, Living Victorious 1. I got them back mid-week so I have to get them done so they can be turned in before my deadline. I opened the doc up a few minutes ago to take another browse through, and I don’t see it taking too many hours out of the day. A few tweaks, a couple of little fixes, some word adjustments, and then the final read through in the (sometimes vain) hope of ensuring I didn’t miss anything important. Or worse, I didn’t miss something spelled incorrectly for the sentence structure yet that still exists in the English language. It’s happened to all authors at one time. Something that should be “an” but is in there as “and”, the doc sees nothing wrong with it because it’s a word, but the mess it makes of the sentence and over all scene… Ugh!

Second item on my list o’ projects for the weekend is to get more words down into Living Victorious 2. I got a huge amount into it last weekend, and if I can manage the same this weekend I should be right about where I want to be for the finish. Perhaps a few other details, but not all that many. My one character, the leading lady in case you were curious, in book 2 has a huge decision to make. Something I’m currently working toward revealing. She’s been given a huge opportunity, but to accept it would mean putting the rest of her life, which she’s only recently regained, on hold. She’s unsure if she can take the risk by accepting the opportunity presented. It would mean a lot of strain, and distance while building a relationship she was sure would only remain in her dreams. The girl has choices to make, a lot of them, and very soon. We’ll have to see which way she goes I suppose.

Let’s see, other than that I have a few actual housekeeping projects to look after. ie: Cleaning – ick! But it must be done otherwise my squirrel syndrome kicks in, and I end up distracted from the truly important things in life – writing. YAY! LOL! So it will get done whenever I take a break. A little here, a little there, and before I know it the residence will be clean and there shall be no more distractions from the writing.

Well that’s it. I need to get a coffee refill, and then I will be buckling down on edits so I can get them back to my publisher for the final read through at their end. Have a fantastic day, a terrific weekend, and I will keep you up to date on what’s coming next. ~ Moira